THE INCREDIBLE RISE OF TECH

Every company in Toronto seems to think it’s a start-up. Offices are outfitted with foosball tables, bosses are hell-bent on disrupting their industries, and R&D managers aren’t employees—they’re Chief Vision Gurus. Less than a decade ago, ambitious entrepreneurs who wanted to bat in the big leagues moved to Silicon Valley. Then, suddenly, the exodus stopped. Our brightest students stayed put after graduation, while megafirms like Google, Uber and Amazon chose Toronto for their newest outposts. There are good reasons for the phenomenon: Canadian schools are pumping out digital whiz kids, the continent’s richest venture capitalists are flooding local companies with cash, and, crucially, our country isn’t run by a bombastic oaf. Here, the brilliant innovators, deep-pocketed investors and amazing inventions that are turning Toronto into the world’s next great tech superpower.